UFC Fighter Roan Carneiro Joins American Top Team

UFC welterweight Roan “Jucao” Carneiro (12-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC), a 29-year-old Brazilian fighter who scored an impressive second-round TKO of veteran Tony DeSouza at last month’s UFC 79 event, has officially signed on with the Florida-based American Top Team.

Carneiro, who joins other recent ATT additions Alessio Sakara and Marcelo Garcia, spent much of November and December at the camp’s Coconut Creek headquarters preparing for his undercard fight with DeSouza. Carneiro won the first round after attempting a number of submissions, and he ended the fight in the second after slamming DeSouza to the mat and following up with a series of unanswered blows.

“Since his move to the U.S., Jucao felt this is the type of training environment necessary for him to compete at the highest level to succeed,” read the official announcement. “Jucao will continue to live and teach in the Atlanta area, but (he) will come down to the main ATT academy in Coconut Creek, Fla., to prepare for any of his upcoming fights in the UFC.”

Carneiro made his UFC debut with a unanimous-decision win over “The Ultimate Fighter 4″ cast member Rich Clementi at UFC Fight Night 9. He then dropped a second-round submission (via rear-naked choke) to Jon Fitch at UFC Fight Night 10 this past June.

The UFC has made no official announcement regarding his next fight.

American Top Team, one of MMA’s biggest and most-respected organizations, boasts more than 1,000 members — 50 of whom compete professionally. ATT has nearly two dozen branches located throughout Florida and the U.S.